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The Politics of YouTube

August 23, 2006

Politicians are finding themselves and their words at the mercy of video sharing site YouTube. With the proliferation of cheap digital cameras and video sites like YouTube, it appears that all the “Little Brothers” have started to turn the cameras on “Big Brother”.

This article in the New York Times illustrates how politicians are getting caught with their feet in their mouths by everyday citizen’s with digital cams and access to YouTube.

From the article —

When politicians say inappropriate things, many voters will want to know. Now they can see it for themselves on the Web.

But YouTube may be changing the political process in more profound ways, for good and perhaps not for the better, according to strategists in both parties. If campaigns resemble reality television, where any moment of a candidate’s life can be captured on film and posted on the Web, will the last shreds of authenticity be stripped from our public officials? Will candidates be pushed further into a scripted bubble? In short, will YouTube democratize politics, or destroy it?

YouTube didn’t even exist until 2005, but it now attracts some 20 million different visitors a month. In statements to the press, the company has been quick to take credit for radically altering the political ecosystem by opening up elections, allowing lesser known candidates to have a platform.